No worries in South Korea, assures local woman

When Rachel Sverchek of Lehighton signed up to teach English in South Korea for a year, she never thought an international crisis would ensue.

BRENDA MARKS FULLER

When Rachel Sverchek of Lehighton signed up to teach English in South Korea for a year, she never thought an international crisis would ensue.

Against the backdrop of increasingly bellicose statements and posturing by North Korea's unpredictable leader, Kim Jong-un, the U.S. embassy notified Sverchek last week that, at this point at least, there is no immediate danger.

"No specific information suggests that there are imminent threats to U.S. citizens or South Korea. The embassy has not changed its security posture," said Sverchek, 22, who graduated from New York's Ithaca College in 2012.

For now, she said, she is staying put where she lives in Daejeon, South Korea.

"The most I hear about the North Korea issue is from online international news sources like CNN and BBC. That should give you an idea of the current vibe in the country, as no South Korean has talked to me about it yet," she wrote in an email.

That does little to allay the fears of her parents, Mark and Anne Sverchek of Lehighton.

"I'm upset, anxious. What parent wouldn't be? The thing is, you can't do anything about it. I told her I wanted her to come home, but she wants to stay," said Anne Sverchek, who visited her daughter in South Korea in January. "From what we hear, no one there seems to be alarmed. They're nonchalant. They're used to it."

Rachel Sverchek is listed with the U.S. Embassy in South Korea. If the embassy believes U.S. citizens are in danger, it will contact her, Anne Sverchek said.

"But it's my understanding that if anything does happen, she is responsible for getting herself out of the country," Anne Sverchek said.

Rachel Sverchek left Pennsylvania in August to teach at Daejeon Doan Elementary School after signing a one-year contract through a Chicago-based agency CCI Greenheart/Greenheart Travel Teach in South Korea. She is scheduled to return to Pennsylvania this August.

If war does break out, she and a friend plan to flee to the Philippines, her mother said.

In October, Rachel Sverchek and some friends traveled the three hours to the DMZ, the demilitarized zone, which runs along the border with North Korea.

It is a tourist attraction, she said. They even walked through some tunnels that were dug out by North Koreans underground. They were not allowed to take photos of the border or the tunnels.

"I think that while South Korea is concerned, as any nation should be when they are threatened with attacks upon their nation, they are taking each new threat or news release coming from the North with a grain of salt," Sverchek wrote. "The relationship between the two nations has been strained since its separation, with periodic times of increased animosity. So for South Korea, this is something they have learned to deal with from experience."

Daejeon, a city in central South Korea, has not increased its military presence on city streets, Sverchek said.

"I have not heard of any plans to evacuate if a missile is launched. However, I am sure that between the South's military capabilities along with its other allies, North Korea would not be able to get very far if they did launch an attack," she wrote.

Not everyone agrees that North Korea is only blustering to rattle the rest of the world.

The Associated Press' Foster Klug warned: "Recent Korean history reveals a sobering possibility. It may only be a matter of time before North Korea launches a sudden, deadly attack on the South. And, perhaps more unsettling, Seoul has vowed that this time, it will respond with an even stronger blow."

But Rachel Sverchek remains undeterred.

"I think that most of this is just North Korea blowing hot air and trying to make themselves more of a known power on the international stage," she wrote. "The new leader is trying to prove himself, not only to the country's citizens, but also to the rest of the world that he is powerful and a force to be reckoned with."

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